4 months ago

4 months ago

4 months ago

4 months ago

Checking in on the… Big 12

Patrick Marshall of Bluejay Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences.

Current Records and my standings (Conference Standings) (Last Week)

Oklahoma (21-1)(7-0) (1)

Kansas (17-4)(6-0) (3)

Missouri (18-4) (5-2) (4)

Texas (15-5) (4-2) (2)

Texas A&M (17-5) (3-4) (7)

Baylor (15-6) (3-4) (5)

Nebraska (13-7) (3-4) (9)

Kansas St. (14-7) (3-4)(11)

Oklahoma St. (13-7) (2-4) (6)

Iowa St. (12-9) (1-5) (10)

Texas Tech (11-10) (1-5)(8)

Colorado (8-10) (1-5) (12)

There has been a lot of shifting this week. The Big 12 has two teams in Oklahoma and Kansas sitting at top right now while the middle is shaping up to be a dogfight. This will be a fun conference to watch as the season goes down the stretch.

GAME OF THE WEEKKansas St. 85, Texas 81, OT—Giving Kansas St. some love as they have been playing with a purpose this week. Their win over a Texas breaking the Longhorns’ 19-game home winning streak has acted as a springboard for them. K-State was up 17 with 7 minutes to go and Texas made a furious comeback to put the game into overtime. Kansas St. was able to get out early in overtime and all Texas could do was play from behind and could not get a lead again.

PLAYER OF THE WEEKDenis Clemente, Kansas St–Denis Clemente had the best game in Kansas St. history (along with Michael Beasley) and tied a Big 12 record scoring 44 points in the contest against Texas in an overtime win. He was a key in both of the Wildcats wins this week scoring 10 points and dishing 7 assists in the win over Missouri.

TEAMS PLAYING WELLOklahoma (2-0 this week)—Oklahoma just keeps winning games. Though the national attention seems to be a bit low, I think this team is better than anticipated. Right now, each team is giving them their best shot. Wins against Oklahoma St. and Iowa St didn’t come easy, but this team knows how to make plays down the stretch. Oklahoma also added a key player to their roster in Juan Pattillo. The JUCO transfer was going to redshirt this season, but all of a sudden decided he wanted to play this season. He has been pleasant surprise in the past couple of games since getting acclimated.

Texas A&M (2-0 this week)—A&M turned things around this week with a couple of wins. They were able to avenge the opening conference loss against Oklahoma St., but each game becomes more important for them. Here is a nice article on Josh Carter.

Kansas (2-0 this week)—This young Kansas team is starting to come together. However, the wins did not come easy as both Nebraska and Colorado had chances late in the game to win, but Kansas hung on. Cole Aldrichbroke his nose against Nebraska. They will get a good test this week with Big Monday against Baylor and then an Oklahoma St. team that wants to get back on track. In the meantime enjoy Kansas Jayhawk Musical and Conner Teahan as Zac Efron:

Kansas St. (2-0 this week)—Kansas St. got a nice win in OT against Texas. Denis Clemente had the best game in Kansas St. history scoring 44 points in the contest. After starting conference play 0-4, the Wildcats have won 3 in a row and are on track to have a 4 game winning streak if they can get a win against Iowa St. before hitting College Station against Texas A&M (a pivotal game for both teams).

TEAMS UP AND DOWNMissouri (1-1 this week)—Missouri was a bit surprised coming into Kansas St. after being on a roll. It wasn’t until the end that they felt comfortable with Kansas St.’s pressure. However, Missouri still has a lot to prove as 3 of their 5 conference wins are against the bottom of the conference. Then they have a win against a struggling Baylor team. However, Missouri has the advantage of playing in the Big 12 North and will only have to play the tougher south teams once. They have an opportunity to catch Texas while they are down this week.

Nebraska (1-1 this week)—Nebraska needs to write a book on moral victories after losing another close game, this time against Kansas. They had a chance to tie with under 20 seconds left and just missed upsetting Kansas after being humiliated by Kansas the previous couple of seasons. However, they finally got a conference win against Texas Tech.

Texas (1-1 this week)— Texas really seems to be struggling right now. They are lacking in identity and coach Rick Barnes is getting really frustrated. They were able to beat Baylor for the 23rd straight time, but then could not hold off a surging Kansas St. team. This week is Nebraska and Missouri. If Texas struggles here, they may be in some trouble. A.J. Abrams made four 3-pointers to break the Big 12 career mark of 338 he shared with Kansas’ Jeff Boschee (1999-2002).

Colorado (1-1 this week)-–Colorado did get their win against Iowa St. and even played Kansas close (haven’t won at Allen Fieldhouse since 1983), but they meet Oklahoma this weekend. I hope it doesn’t get too ugly.

TOUGH WEEKTexas Tech (0-2 this week)— A few weeks ago, I mentioned that coach Pat Knight might have some of his dad in him with the 12-year old kid out of the stands trick to motivate his team, but this weekend’s game against Nebraska solidified it. First off he went off on the students the week before:

But then against Nebraska, he went bezerk after disagreeing with a foul called

He was ejected from the game, and even ran back out for more. Boy, he is already worried about his job.

Baylor (0-2 this week)—Baylor is in a bit of trouble right now. They are on a 3-game losing streak and if they cannot make a statement against Kansas in their Big Monday game, it might be a long rest of the season for Baylor. Then they go to Lubbock to play Texas Tech. Two wins here could be important for Baylor.

Oklahoma St. (0-2 this week)—The Cowboys have lost 4 out of their last 5 games. They get the Baylor tour as well this week playing Kansas and Texas Tech.

Iowa St. (0-2 this week)— Iowa St. will compete with Colorado to stay out of last place. How long will Greg McDermott be given to build this program?

WEEK AHEAD AND GAMES TO WATCH
Some key match-ups this week that will shake up the standings.

2/2, (Big Monday) Kansas @ Baylor (ESPN) –Right now Baylor is in trouble and they need to right the ship quickly. This one will be a good starting spot. The “Whiteout” will be in effect for this game.